RTX A500 vs GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB

Place in the ranking	348	312
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	13.11	20.09
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	GP106	GA107
Market segment	Laptop	Workstation
Release date	27 June 2017 (7 years ago)	10 November 2021 (3 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1280	2048
Core clock speed	1063 MHz	1440 MHz
Boost clock speed	1480 MHz	1770 MHz
Number of transistors	4,400 million	no data
Manufacturing process technology	16 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	60 Watt
Texture fill rate	118.4	113.3
Floating-point processing power	3.789 TFLOPS	7.25 TFLOPS
ROPs	48	32
TMUs	80	64
Tensor Cores	no data	64
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	16

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	large	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x8
Width	no data	1-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	None

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	2002 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.2 GB/s	112.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	No outputs	No outputs
G-SYNC support	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

VR Ready

no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	3.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.3
CUDA	6.1	8.6

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 15.29

RTX A500 17.57
+14.9%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 5891

RTX A500 6767
+14.9%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	80 −12.5%	90−95 +12.5%
4K	28 −7.1%	30−35 +7.1%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

24−27

−12.5%

27−30
+12.5%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −14.3%	40−45 +14.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −8%	27−30 +8%
Battlefield 5	50−55 −10%	55−60 +10%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 −12.9%	35−40 +12.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −12.5%	27−30 +12.5%
Far Cry 5	62 −12.9%	70−75 +12.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45 −7.1%	45−50 +7.1%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 −11.1%	110−120 +11.1%
Hitman 3	27−30 −3.4%	30−33 +3.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	75−80 −10.4%	85−90 +10.4%
Metro Exodus	50−55 −5.8%	55−60 +5.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 −7.1%	45−50 +7.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55 −10%	55−60 +10%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 −13.9%	90−95 +13.9%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −14.3%	40−45 +14.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −8%	27−30 +8%
Battlefield 5	50−55 −10%	55−60 +10%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 −12.9%	35−40 +12.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −12.5%	27−30 +12.5%
Far Cry 5	54 −11.1%	60−65 +11.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45 −7.1%	45−50 +7.1%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 −11.1%	110−120 +11.1%
Hitman 3	27−30 −3.4%	30−33 +3.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	75−80 −10.4%	85−90 +10.4%
Metro Exodus	50−55 −5.8%	55−60 +5.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 −7.1%	45−50 +7.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55 −10%	55−60 +10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 −11.1%	40−45 +11.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 −13.9%	90−95 +13.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −14.3%	40−45 +14.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −8%	27−30 +8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 −12.9%	35−40 +12.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −12.5%	27−30 +12.5%
Far Cry 5	40 −12.5%	45−50 +12.5%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 −11.1%	110−120 +11.1%
Hitman 3	27−30 −3.4%	30−33 +3.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	75−80 −10.4%	85−90 +10.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55 −10%	55−60 +10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35 −14.3%	40−45 +14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 −13.9%	90−95 +13.9%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45

−7.1%

45−50
+7.1%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 −4.3%	24−27 +4.3%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −12.5%	9−10 +12.5%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	80−85 −12.5%	90−95 +12.5%
Hitman 3	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 −12.9%	35−40 +12.9%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −11.1%	30−33 +11.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 −7.1%	30−33 +7.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 −6.4%	100−105 +6.4%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

−8%

27−30
+8%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 −9.1%	12−14 +9.1%
Hitman 3	10−12 −9.1%	12−14 +9.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	75−80 −11.8%	85−90 +11.8%
Metro Exodus	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24 −12.5%	27−30 +12.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	8−9 −12.5%	9−10 +12.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	12 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	20−22 −5%	21−24 +5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

−14.3%

16−18
+14.3%

This is how GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB and RTX A500 compete in popular games:

RTX A500 is 13% faster in 1080p
RTX A500 is 7% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	15.29	17.57
Recency	27 June 2017	10 November 2021
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	16 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	60 Watt

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB has a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount.

RTX A500, on the other hand, has a 14.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 33.3% lower power consumption.

The RTX A500 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is a notebook card while RTX A500 is a workstation one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.